The City of Madison is moving forward with plans to build a public market by attempting to finalize funding, design, construction and an operating plan with the goal of opening the market by early 2019.
Common Council approved the “Public Market Business Plan and Implementation Strategy” in March of this year for constructing the market, according to a city press release. That plan is made up of five parts, which are, “governance and operations of the market, the funding, the design of the site and the building, and the continued development of prospective Public Market Vendors,” according to the city’s website.
In trying to establish the fourth part of that plan, the city is hosting a “Community Workshop” Thursday to focus on the design of the market. The event will be hosted at Archipelago Village Design Center on East Washington Avenue.
“This interactive event will provide community members the opportunity to review, discuss, and share input on options for the design of the Public Market and surrounding site,” Economic Development Specialist Dan Kennelley wrote in the release. “More than just plans for the Public Market building itself, the discussion will include ideas for related development around the Public Market to begin creating a Market District.”
The market is intended to be a place where there is a mix of “food retail, wholesaling, and processing, arts/craft vending, community uses,” according to the city’s website.
The market is planned to be built on First Street between East Washington Avenue and East Johnson Street. The city hopes to have the market financed by 2017, under construction by 2018 and opened by 2019.
